Former Yale University 1500 school record holder James Shirvell arrested for attempted murder after stabbing gf while high on LS

Increases in violent behavior is a common, well known, and well documented effect of alcohol.

YMMV wrote:

LSD is far less toxic than alcohol, yet if someone gets violent on booze, do people respond with "Poor guy! that evil alcohol is completely responsible for his behavior!"?

Most people can drink without getting violent, and probably even more as a matter of % can trip without getting violent or suicidal.

lsd user wrote:

I dunno boys wrote:

Tens of millions of people have done LSD and not gotten violent.

Something odd here.

Having tried LSD in the past I can attest that it's not even a slightly violence or craziness inducing drug. It has a slight "upper" effect but nothing like meth. Really it makes you want to sit and stare at a flower or some clouds, or even the wall (which will be moving). It's nice to listen to some music and you might want to dance or otherwise move a bit. A bad trip might make you feel sad. But certainly not violent. Maybe he was on acid. But don't blame the acid.

Can also attest to this with lots of past experiences with and around acid. Not unheard of for someone to become a danger to themselves however, and LSD is well known to “awaken” dormant pre-existing mental illnesses, most famously schizophrenia.

#richwhitekidproblems

Drugs are OK, OK wrote:

Increases in violent behavior is a common, well known, and well documented effect of alcohol.

YMMV wrote:

LSD is far less toxic than alcohol, yet if someone gets violent on booze, do people respond with "Poor guy! that evil alcohol is completely responsible for his behavior!"?

Most people can drink without getting violent, and probably even more as a matter of % can trip without getting violent or suicidal.

Of course it is, but no one calls for prohibition any more. Yet LSD violence gets the dire headlines while alcohol violence is daily. In reality LSD freak outs are more like "Man Bits Dog!", rare enough to be notable, yet in fact used to promote prohibition, as was "Reefer Madness" stories of how marijuana is a 'gateway drug" etc.. Of course it is a gateway to the criminal side, if you force people to illegal means to obtain it.

I don't get the myth and hysteria around LSD. It's insane in and of itself.

In college, during summer break one weekend, I went to a rave and dropped acid. Upon getting home I was still under the influence, and when I walked in the front door my mother could tell I was on something, right away. She confronted me and I admitted what I'd taken.

My mother broke down crying, telling me the story of an old friend who took acid and never came back to reality, winding up in an institution. Then my step father, a psychiatrist, joined the conversation and told me to drink lots of water and "whatever you do, don't touch any alcohol--that will make things much worse!"

Freaking out at this point, I go to my room and call a very "experienced" friend. His recommendation? Chill out and have a beer. Probably a good idea in retrospect.

Years later I remembered this whole situation and asked my mother about her friend, including his name. Lo and behold...she admitted that it was a complete fabrication, based on rumors she'd heard! And then I asked my step father about why he told me not to drink. "It just seemed like generally good advice."

Total BS from two people I was supposed to trust, all because of media and War on Drugs lies. And plenty in this thread too. All for a substance that's much less harmful, in balance, than the donut people buy daily with their cup of coffee.

All of you druggies are claiming that drugs ae safe so the punishment for this guy would have to be life in prison for attempted murder.

Less harmful than a donut, yea right!

Sane and sober wrote:

All of you druggies are claiming that drugs ae safe so the punishment for this guy would have to be life in prison for attempted murder.

Good analysis! Of course drugs are dangerous. Druggies always trying to defend use.

Stupid to play Russian Roulette with your brain!

blamb61 wrote:

Stupid to play Russian Roulette with your brain!

For something that is not even real.

LSD is neither good or bad, it’s just a synthesized chemical. It’s effects vary widely from person to person, and I’m amazed by the amount of mighty claims being made on both sides. The truth is that there is risks with any drugs for people who are mentally unstable whether it’s alcohol, weed, or LSD. You can be a completely functional adult, but drugs can bring out underlying mental issues that don’t usually surface when one is sober. Particularly with my experiences on acid, it’s very easy for me to see how people can have paranoia that cause them to do terrible, irrational things.

With LSD, and any drug for that matter, set and setting us everything. If you’re going through a dark time in your life, any drug had the potential to heighten that feeling of despair. It just so happens that people are less able to control their actions or follow social cues on LSD. Additionally, if you are taking it in an unfamiliar setting with people that you don’t fully trust, it isn’t uncommon for people to be afraid of those that they are with, regardless of how irrational it may be. I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if this man acted in “self defense” to what seemed like a clear threat at the time. But I don’t want to jump to conclusions.

LSD is a very misunderstood drug, and the reality is that research needs to be done. It is extremely powerful, and to ignore its therapeutic potential is entirely idiotic. Obviously, the only stories about LSD that are newsworthy are the ones that involve terrible tragedies such as the ones involving murder or assault. But you aren’t going to read about the stories about people who have been able to unravel years of trauma through psychedelics. It is very dangerous for individuals to be using LSD for their own therapy, which is why I believe that it needs to be researched more. Additionally, I strongly believe that LSD, while it can be fun, shouldn’t be used recreationally, ESPECIALLY like the stories of people doing it once a week. LSD can induce a profound experience that one should spend many weeks meditating on. Steve Jobs credits taking LSD as one of the most profound experiences of his life.

But the problem is that no one takes the time to understand this drug. Years of misleading media attention as well as the reckless encouragement of LSD have led to many of these horror stories that should never happen. I believe that it is a great thing that more research is being done on psychedelic drugs, and I hope for a future in which they can be used by licensed professionals for the use of therapy.

For those who have never taken LSD, perhaps my personal anecdote can shed some light. I’ve tried my best to be as unbiased as possible in either side:

For me LSD allowed me to look at myself from an outside perspective. I became more aware of patterns and subconscious actions that I make, good and bad. I also became more aware of my social interactions with others, and realized why certain situations made me insecure. It also allowed me to finally see my childhood trauma from a different perspective. I finally had the power in me to forgive my abuser, and it generally made me more conscious of the insecurities that others face. Not to sound like a hippy, but it truly made me a more peaceful, loving person. It also made me more aware of what I was passionate about in a time where I was unsure what I liked. It brought me back to my childhood passions. It brought a lot of lasting joy to my life. I haven’t done it in years, I don’t need to anymore, because I got what I needed out of it.

I sincerely hope that my post can help educate you guys on the good and bad sides of LSD. But also understand that my experience is my own, and that everyone else’s is very different. For this reason, I truly believe that it should be left to the professional researchers.

lsd user wrote:

Having tried LSD in the past I can attest that it's not even a slightly violence or craziness inducing drug.

you've been lucky so far. Wall moving one day, people trying to control your thoughts the next. Nobody is too strong to be freaked out, and there's no predicting who will be or under what circumstances. Pink Floyd made a whole career out of this fact.

Talk to some people much older than you about this.